Over 50 Years History Drilling in the South Island

One day Waimea based crop farmer Woody Woodford was searching for water on his own property and saw an opportunity when he realised other local farmers were doing the same thing. Woody purchased his first drilling rig and started off drilling for friends and neighbours in 1965. It was a bad period of drought in the top of the South Island so demand was high for the company's services and the business grew steadily. At that time Waimea Drilling Company was completing relatively shallow drilling to a depth of around 30-50 metres largely in the Wairau, Motueka and Waimea Plains. In 1982 the company made the move into deep drilling when kiwifruit farming was starting to gain momentum in the region and water in Nelson’s Moutere formation required drilling to greater depths.

Expertise and Plant

Waimea Drilling Company employs an expert team and operates three drilling rigs including a 60 tonne drill rig assembly. The company has a detailed knowledge of piezometers and investigative drilling including down bore flow rates. Customers include domestic clients, dairy farmers, apple growers, district councils and the fishing and timber industries. Waimea Drilling Company has now completed over 6000 wells.​

Waimea Drilling's name comes from the Maori words ‘wai’ meaning water and ‘mea’ meaning plain.Water is life and also equates to security for our customers. We are proud of our long history in the​South Island and the number of wells we have successfully drilled for satisfied customers.